


Love is the Journey of the Heart

by Trinxy



Category: Castle
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-07
Updated: 2014-01-12
Packaged: 2018-01-07 20:58:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1124309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trinxy/pseuds/Trinxy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His hand trembles when he opens the first button of her dress. He should be used to it. Used to them being together, undressing her slowly. But the reality is - he is not.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

His hand trembles when he opens the first button of her dress. He should be used to it. Used to them being together, undressing her slowly. But the reality is - he is not. Every time they start this slow dance of seduction, he gets excited beyond anything else. Because it’s her. It feels new every time. Because she is Beckett. She is beyond amazing. 

She notices the slight tremor of his hands and smirks. It doesn’t go unnoticed by him. He pointedly ignores her mocking gaze and continues his actions with his hands on her back. 

He has opened only one button so far. It’s already making her impatient. 

She decides to speed up the journey. 

Slowly, tentatively, she slides her fingers down his stomach, making his abs shudder in sudden pleasure and he takes in a sharp breath. She smiles. She was waiting for it. She knows she can break him down to gasping puddle of mess if she wants. This slight change of his breathing was the thing she was waiting for. Mission completed. 

He doesn’t let her continue the slow exploration of her hands. He leaves the second button and trails his fingers down along her sides, making her shudder in response. Cruel man. He can do the same with her. With only a touch of his fingertips, he can turn her into moaning and gasping mess. 

He brackets her wrists and pulls them softly away from his stomach. 

“No,” he answers to her quizzical stare, placing a soft kiss on her jaw. 

She lets out a frustrated sigh. 

“Why?”

“Don’t you know?” he continues his exploration with his mouth while joining her hands on her back. 

She shudders when his lips reach to her ear and he places a feather light kiss to her lobe. She swallows and shakes her head softly. 

He trails the curve of her ear with his tongue, making the blood fire up in her veins.

He whispers again, his lips touch the lobe when he talks and it makes her shiver again. “Really?” 

She opens her mouth to say something but her breath stops in her lungs as his teeth surround the delicate flesh of her earlobe. She knows exactly why he is doing this. He’s making it all about her. 

She shakes her head again before she succumbs to the feeling and leans against him, letting him in. With his mouth working with her ear, she lets him surround her, their body heat mingling to one. 

He releases her lobe and continues his journey against her neck. 

“Thought so,” he whispers between the soft open mouthed kisses against her skin. 

She sighs and places her head to his shoulder revealing more delicate skin to his delight. He doesn’t let the chance go and starts to explore the newly exposed skin with his lips. 

She decides that the way he uses his lips and tongue to make her crazy, should be illegal. She lets out a breathy moan when he gently nips her skin over her pulse points

He can feel her erratic beating of the heart underneath his lips, the pulsing feeling making him crazy. Her soft skin reveals how much she loves the things he is doing to her.

He releases the delicate skin between his teeth and places a kiss on the barely visible bite mark. He smiles when she makes the sound between whimper and a moan. 

“Impatient, aren’t we?” he whispers against her neck, not wanting to let her go. 

She nods and moans again while he slides his tongue over her delicate flesh. She wants to raise her hands to his neck and play with the tiny hairs on his neck. But his strong hands are still holding onto her arms, keeping them together on her back. 

She tries to struggle free, moving her wrists in his hold. He doesn’t let go of her hands, but grasps her wrists even stronger. 

“Nuh-uh,” he whispers again, his mouth making its way onto her cheek. “I can’t let you go.” 

“Castle,” she whispers breathlessly. “Please?” 

She wants her arms free. She wants to touch him. She wants to make him feel as good as she is feeling right now. But his stubborn self wants to make this all about her. She sighs as he reaches to her mouth and claims her lips with his.

The friction of their mouths is overwhelming. She opens her mouth to him and he doesn’t even second guess the invitation. Their tongues meet in hurried pace, teeth clashing together in passion. The fire in her veins becomes more and more hotter. Slow burn in her stomach is rapidly replaced with fireworks. She moans again when she gets a chance to breathe. 

His hold on her wrists is getting weaker and she breaks herself free from his grasp. With one swift motion, she raises her hands and grips his shoulders. One hand sneaks to the back of his head, sliding her fingers through his silky hair. He slides his arms around her waist and pulls her impossibly close, deepening their kiss.

They just stand there, in the middle of the lowly lit hotel room, their breaths mingling together as they kiss each other senseless. His hands travel up and down on her back. He finally remembers to continue what he was doing in the first place. Unbutton her dress. He brings his hands back to the row of buttons again, sliding against the soft fabric. 

He manages to undo the next one. She whimpers against him as he slows the pace of their kiss down. Languidly, sharing soft kisses and caresses, they break the kiss, both of them breathing hard. He smiles to her as she slowly opens her eyes. Her hazel brown eyes looking up to him glint of happiness in them. She looks so shiny, so full of light and happiness. His breath catches in his chest. Oh god, he loves her so much. 

“You are so beautiful,” he whispers, trying to put all of the emotions he is feeling at the moment behind his words. 

She smiles the sweetest smile in his embrace. “You are not so bad yourself either, Castle.”

He beams the brightest smile to her and leans down to capture her mouth again with his lips. She meets him halfway and they meet in the sweetest kiss again. Slow and exploring. 

He starts slowly walking them backwards to the grand bedroom.

She notices the slowed pace of their movements as they shift towards the big silken bed. She doesn’t want slow. She wants passion. She wants the fire in her body to burn quicker, boiling her skin, making her scream. Fireworks, all of it.

She heats up the slow kiss with the power of her tongue, creating friction between them. He shudders when he feels the shift in their connection and responds to her with all he has got. But he doesn’t let her to lead. 

He doesn’t want quick. He wants slow, languid. Loving. 

Back of her legs bump into the edge of their king size bed and they halt their slow walk. He slows the kisses down again, making her groan. 

“Castle,” she groans his name out when he pulls away slowly. 

“You are impatient,” he states, smiling. 

She doesn’t respond to him and brings her mouth to meet his again. He murmurs against her lips. 

“Let it go, love,” he murmurs as he is pushing her down to the bed, sharing languid kisses to her neck. “Sometimes the journey is better than the finale.”


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

She lets out a small gasp when he bites her earlobe gently. He knows that this is the spot that always makes her crazy. Right on time, she shudders as a response to his ministrations. Closing her eyes, she lets the waves of pleasure run through her body. He is driving her crazy. Slowly. She is so sure of that. And she isn’t entirely sure if she can survive his new pace of discovering her, discovering them. This feels good. This feels beyond awesome. She feels her chest tighten as he releases her lobe and places feather light kisses to her neck.

He smiles against her skin. He is loving this. The slow seduction of his woman. He enjoys making her gasp and shudder only with his mouth and fingers. He can’t resist the siren song of her skin and he closes the distance again, sharing another row of soft kisses. He makes his way to the other side of her neck, to share the same amount of the attention there too. It draws out another breathy moan from her.

She can’t be still anymore. The bubbling pleasure inside her makes her want to move, to speed him up, to do something. She brings up her arms and places them to his neck, securing him soundly against her skin. She loves the feel of his soft hair between her fingers. She enjoys the silky feel of them when she slides her finger through his hair. This feels nice. More than nice.

He averts his journey from her neck to her mouth, kissing the all way up to her chin and her lips. The soft flesh of her meets his and she automatically opens up to him. He kisses her again. Slowly, languidly. Tongue sliding against tongue, making each other feel more and more.

She slides her other hand to her back to pull him even closer against her body. He groans to her mouth, the friction between their bodies is getting more and more intense. She slides the fingers inside the waistband of his pants where they are greeted by a warm flesh of his back muscles. She draws a soft circle with her fingertips against his spine. The notion draws out another groan from his he is devouring her mouth.

As much as he likes to go fast and furious now, he mentally calms himself down and slows the feverish kiss. Their mouths detach with an audible pop, making her smile. They both open their eyes at the same time and take each other in. He bends his head to catch her lips in soft peck again and raises it up again, looking down to the hazel depths of her eyes.

“Wicked woman,” he states with his husky voice. His words cause the chuckle leaving from her lips. He smiles to her. She tries to suppress her smile, but she can’t really do it as the corners of her mouth keep turning upwards. She continues moving her fingers in his hair, making him shudder. He is ticklish. She knows that really well. She keeps the movement of her fingers light but never stopping them.

“What did I do now?” she asks looking back at his eyes, two pools of blue sky.

“You are trying to get your way,” He bends his head down and starts nibbling at her neck again.

She puffs out another breath of laughter. “My way?”

He nods against her chin, prepping another batch of kisses there. “Yes,” he mumbles between kisses. “Your way.”

She breathes in sharply as he finds her ticklish spot again. “I’m not doing anything,” she whispers out between her shaky breaths.

“Oh you are. You are trying to speed me up. Nuh, uh,”

“Is that so bad?” she asks back while he reaches to her shoulder with his mouth.

“No,” he shakes his head. “We have time for that. Later. This, right now...” he stops to kiss her shoulder again. “... is a slow celebration.”

These feather like kisses shut her up as she succumbs to the feelings of his tongue against her skin.

After a short while, he kisses his way back to her mouth and she opens her lips to him. With no hesitation he kisses her again. Long, hard and slow seduction.

“You are so hot,” he whispers as they part, making them both chuckle.

* * *

 

_“Oh my god, it’s so hot in here!” she sighs. She is slumped against the elevator wall, trying to catch her breath. It’s summer in New York. Very, very hot summer. And this is the time when her air conditioning unit decided is a good time to break. Not good at all. Castle offered that she could live in his place until they get the AC fixed again. So, they packed her things in her apartment - it reminded him more of sauna than an apartment. Finally, after securing all of her things to four small bags, they headed back to his place._

_“There’s nothing I can do,” he groans right next to her. They are both dressed in very skimpy summery clothes and carrying her bags in both hands. “And what the hell are in these bags?” he whines out loud._

_She shoots a stern look at him._

_“What?” he whines again. “It feels like you are carrying stones in here.”_

_“Castle, don’t whine. We are almost there.”_

_As soon as she says that, the elevator doors open to his floor. She quickly steps out of the elevator, heading to his door. It’s hot in the hallway too, just like outside. The air doesn’t seem to be moving at all and there’s nothing to breathe._

_“Come on now,” she pushes through the teeth, trying to hurry up her boyfriend. Castle is just in her heels as they arrive to the front door of his loft. She leans back to the wall, trying to breathe the damp air._

_“I know, I know” he rasps. He throws down her back and fumbles to find his keys in his pockets. Finally, he finds the metallic object and pulls it out. “A-haa!”_

_“Can you just please open the door, Castle,” she pleads. “I’m just so hot.”_

_He smiles and throws her a dirty look while opening the door._

_“Not that way,” she smirks, understanding his gaze._

_“Are you sure? You look pretty hot to me,” he drawls out as he opens the door for her. She ignores him and dashes inside almost immediately, welcomed by the cool air of the loft._

_“Aaahhh, finally, some air,” she cheers, throwing her bags down and heading to the kitchen island._

_Rick closes the door, places the bags he is carrying right next to hers and follows her to the kitchen. She has already found a cup and filling it with tap water when Castle catches up with her. She raises the cup to her lips and drinks with big gulps. He stops in front of her and observes her actions with a glint of amusement in his eye. She looks back at him, eyebrows shot up in question. He just smirks back at her._

_“You are still hot,” he finally says._

_Smile runs through her features and she puts the cup down next to the kitchen sink. “Not anymore, the water helped me to cool down.”_

_He smirks again, taking a step closer to her. “Nuh-uh, you are still hot.”_

_She arches an eyebrow up. “Oh, really?”_

_He takes another step closer and palms her waist with his right hand. “Yes, really.” He pulls her close to him. She puts in a little effort to struggle but she lets him wrap his arms around her middle and pull her to his embrace. He bends his head and places a tiny kiss to her neck. It makes her shiver._

_“You are hot, smokin hot to me,” he mumbles against her skin. “Always.”_

_She sighs and arches her neck, making it easier for him to feast upon her neck._

_“What are you gonna do about it?” she mumbles back challengingly, bringing her hands to his shoulders to hold onto him._

_“Oh, don’t you worry, I have just an idea,” he says and starts to walk her backwards. Her back hits the cold surface of the fridge._

_She is so engrossed to the feeling of his lips and tongue on her neck; he doesn’t notice his hand that left her waist has pushed to the buttons of the ice machine next to her. The fridge becomes alive, hums and disposes two ice cubes to his palm._

_She jerks against him when he places one of the ice cubes to the small of her back. His mouth leaves her neck and he raises his head to look at her reaction. She opens her eyes and smiles to him._

_“Ice cubes, really? I-” she stutters as his hand with an ice cube moves up on her back. She closes her eyes and shivers again._

_“It’s nice, isn’t it?” he asks and finally covers her mouth with his._

_The kiss is slow at first, tentative, sweet. But when he brings his second hand with an ice cube to her waist, her hand flies to his hair and she pulls him in, deepening the kiss. Their passionate embrace gets more and more heated by the second. He moves them around in the kitchen so that her back is against the cupboards. His hands end up on her rear and with one swift motion, she is propped against the counter, leaving her no choice but to be in his mercy._

* * *

_She tries to catch her breath. She really can’t because it seems impossible. Her heart is beating so fast and her mind is reeling. They are naked in the kitchen. She is still halfway propped up against the counter, still joined with him._

_“That was...” she trails off breathing hard against his neck. She can’t find any words in her messy mind to describe what they just did._

_“I know,” he pushes out between gasps. “I told you, you are hot.”_

_He places another row kisses to her neck. She hums against his skin in pleasure._

_It takes some minutes to calm down for both of them._

_There is a silence in the room, disrupted only by the heavy breathing coming from the naked forms against the kitchen counter._

_He places a kiss to her cheek and says without thinking forward, “You know, you should move here.”_

_The silence lasts for another few heartbeats._

_“What?” she pushes her head away from his neck to look at his face._

_He catches up with his mouth and decides to go all in for it. “Uh, you know, it’s the sixth time we have to move your things from your place to my place. Just leave them here. Move here,” he explains, looking her intently, his eyes pleading._

_“I...” she trails off. This isn’t such a bad idea. They have been together almost a year. And this would mean waking up beside him every day, breathing in his scent and the smell of coffee. Coming home to him. Home. During this last year, the loft has felt more home to her than her own apartment. Maybe it’s because he always tricks her to stay there or she just loves the feel of his grand apartment. There is always somebody in here. She is not alone. She has family in there. She can be happy living with him... She sighs. She can do that. He loves that man. Why wait more?_

_He looks at her with adoring eyes as her mind tries to wrap itself around the idea. He kisses her cheek softly and mumbles, “I would wake up beside you every day.”_

_He opens his mouth to bring up more arguments why she should move in with him, but she beats him with it. She places a finger on his lips, promptly shutting him up._

_“Yes,” she whispers._

_“Yes?” he squeaks out in surprise. He was sure that she needed a lot more convincing than that._

_She rolls her eyes and smiles to him, “Yes, I’ll move in with you.” She points to the bags standing in the hall. “We are already halfway there anyway.”_

_He smiles a hundred watt smile back to her and closes the distance between them again- to kiss her senseless._

_After a while, they part from each other._

_“Happiest man ever,” he whispers against her lips._

* * *

“Indeed,” she agrees. Lowering her voice she breathes it out in sultry tone “I am so hot, what are you going to do about it?”

He smiles against her lips.

“Oh, I have some ideas, don’t you worry, my love,” he whispers as he is propping himself up, tugging her up with him as well.

“First, we need to get rid of this,” he points to the dress she is wearing.

In their half-sitting position she smiles back to him and she feels his strong arms bracketing her again. His nimble fingers are working on the remainder of her buttons.

One, two, three, four and they are all loosened. He brings his mouth to hers again while his digits are playing on her bare back.

He brings his arm up and slides his hand over her shoulder, making the lacy dress fall to her lap.

“Finally,” he mumbles and kisses her again.

 


	3. Chapter 3

The heat travels fast on the surface of her skin as his fingers trace the soft plains of her arms. He is pushing the dress down, wanting to get rid of all that restraining fabric. When it lands on the bed, he lets out frustrated sigh, _“Finally.”_

She shudders, the feeling is just too good. Sometimes the smallest of touches can light you up and make you burn inside. The hair on her arms raise up when he glides his warm hands over them. She sighs audibly and closes the distance between them, pressing her mouth to his neck, giving an open-mouthed kiss there.

The shudder that runs through his body makes him groan out loud.

“I love you, Kate, so, so much,” he mumbles into her hair, pulling her closer to him. The skin against the cotton of his shirt. It feels so good, intoxicating. He is almost free of the damn dress. Almost. The white, laced cloth is surrounding her hips like a fluffy cloud and it’s restraining his movements around her. That damn dress needs to go... now!

Her hands are working on the buttons of his white shirt and in no time they have found their way inside, travelling up and down on his muscular back. The jerky movements of her hands are making him shiver. This feels so good. They have done this dance forever, but this time, it’s something else. This time, she is his. She is Castle.  

Her mouth never leaves his neck, but somehow she manages to mumble out, “I love you too, Castle,” before she delicately bites his pulse point. He jerks from the sudden pressure, then puffs out a breath of laughter. She ignores it. She knows he likes what she does to him. Every bit of it. Slowly, her mouth travels up to his face, connecting their lips again.

His hands are slowly coming up from her arms and they bracket her neckline, pulling her closer into him. She lets him in without a thought, their tongues clashing, moving in bottomless hunger. His fingers are playing with the delicate skin on her neck and sliding slowly down to her chest.

And there it is - the long puckered scar across her collarbone. He momentarily slows down the frenzied kiss. They part with an audible pop as he pulls away and he sucks in a breath.

She sighs and decides not to open her eyes. She knows. She feels his hand on her chest. She knows what’s wrong - he remembered.

He sighs as well as he places his head at the crook of her neck, almost touching the white surface of the scar.  

“Castle?” she whispers.

“I know, I know,” he murmurs against her skin.

“It’s all over, we’re all right,” he tries to comfort her, playing with his hair on his neck. She places a soft kiss on his neck.

“I know,” he whispers again, sliding his fingers against the long scar. “But it doesn’t stop me from thinking.”

And there he is again, fourteen months back in time. The memories are flashing through his mind like a bad movie.

* * *

_“Kate,” he strains his neck to look at her. His voice desperate, trying to find her eyes. “Kate, look at me, please!” he pleads again. She needs to look at him. They will be alright, they will be. She needs to wake up and look at him and make him believe._

_They are in a dark room. He is not sure where they are at exactly. It’s chilly, lying in the ground like this. One hand attached to the pipes and other barely touching hers. They have been captured. The dark sedan had appeared out of nowhere and plowed into her cruiser, making their escape impossible. In seconds, the abductors were out of car and had them at gunpoint._

_He sighs - at least they hadn’t been killed. They wanted him and Kate alive. Breathing. That’s what is important now._

_The kidnappers have been away for hours. Well, at least he thinks so. His memories are blurry after waking up and finding himself on the cold floor. And her. She hasn’t still responded to his pleas. She is lying there still, not moving. At all! What have they done to her?_

_“Kate,” he croaks out again. He tugs at her hand that he is holding more firmly, trying to shake her. It has been a bit time since he woke up. Why hasn’t she woken up yet? Kate needs to wake up. Please._

_“Kate,” he tries for umpteenth time. This time, a little bit success comes into play. He hears her breath hitching and a long moan lets itself free from her mouth._

_“Kate, please, just open your eyes,” he tugs her hand again._

_“Castle?” she croaks out with a sleepy voice. She doesn’t bother opening her eyes yet, but she is getting more and more awake by the minute.  “What’s going on?”_

_“Shhh, Kate, take it easy,” he tries to prevent her flipping out as she becomes fully aware of the surroundings. “We’ve been taken. I don’t know where we are. Or how long we have been here. But at least we are here together.”_

_He tightens his fingers around her hand. She finally opens her eyes and surveys her surroundings._

_“Taken?”_

_“Yes,” he sighs._

_“How?” she whispers. “Why?”_

_“I don’t know yet. I haven’t seen anybody come down here,” he answers, voice low. “But if I have to guess, I would say it’s connected to the case we were working on.”_

_She is fully awake now. She tries to sit up and her hand slides out of his fingers. She is still confused but she notices things more now, she is aware of her surroundings. She tries to move her right hand but it is stopped by a loud clink - handcuffs sliding against the pipe... on the opposite end of the room from him. Great. She is handcuffed too. The only way they can be connected is just holding their hands._

_“The Russian mob?” she asks._

_“Probably.”_

_“What do they want from us?” she wonders out loud. “Did the arrest of Yuri Nemirko really rattle the mob world that much?”_

_He sighs. He had wondered the same thing for quite some time while she was unconscious._

_“Kate,” he finally whispers. “We will be okay, don’t worry.” He holds out his arm for her, trying to connect with her any way he can. She looks at him and smiles weakly. He sees the tension leaving her body as he speaks._

_“I know,” she finally says after a long pause._

_They fall into a silence. Neither of them knows what to say anymore. They don’t know what will happen once the kidnappers show up. But for now, they have to be - unattended and alone._

_He just wants to hug her. He wants to hold her close. She seems so fragile in this darkness. Even though he knows for a fact that she is not a fragile thing at all, it doesn’t stop his heart for screaming for her. And the stupid handcuffs - the main reason he can’t reach for her. He just squeezes her hand in his palm._

_“Marry me,” he whispers._

_She turns her head so sharply, he is sure he hears a whiplash. “What?”_

_“When we get out of here alive, marry me?” he repeats his words. She stares at him wordlessly. He decides to continue, “I don’t want to spend another second without you. I just … just love you so much. I can’t bare the thought anything happening to you. I just...  I need you to be with me. Be my wife. Spend the eternity with me. I just can’t live without you.”_

_She tries to open her mouth in shock. But closes it without saying anything. It’s out there. It’s her move now. For a moment, she doesn’t know what to take out of the turn of the events. He is really asking her to marry him. Right now? In the damn basement. While they are cuffed to the pipes and probably facing torture and death?_

_“Are you seriously asking me to marry you while we are being held in a dark cellar by Russian mob?” she finally whispers out._

_He nods, his face serious, his blue eyes clear as a tropical ocean.  “Yes.”_

_“Are you serious?” She can’t get over her first question. She can’t wrap her head around it._

_“As a heart attack,” he breathes out, tightening the hold around her fingers._

_She needs to ask it out loud. “Why now?”_

_“Why not?” he sighs. “I may not have more opportunities. We don’t know what happens now.”_

_She shakes her head in confusion. It doesn’t make sense. Nothing makes sense anymore. She is still drugged up. Maybe hallucinating? It isn’t like him. He should be cracking jokes right now, making the mood lighter._

_“You don’t sound like Castle anymore,” she finally states._

_He shifts uncomfortably on his place on the floor, trying to find the words that will make her understand._

_“Well, after watching you unconscious for hours and praying that you were still breathing.... I ... just .. don’t want to lose you. I love you too much,” he stresses the words with a shaking her hand. She needs to understand him. She needs to._

_They just look at each other, he stares at her deep hazel eyes, searching for an answer. She is confused, she is scared. Her mind is racing a million miles an hour. It’s a crazy turn of events and she… she just doesn’t know what to make of it. Right now, she is facing danger again and as usual, Castle is by her side. He is always there for her. Always. He doesn’t give up, he doesn’t leave her alone. He is just … hers._

_He sighs. He starts to get nervous. She keeps silent, she doesn’t answer. Maybe it was wrong to ask her that.  Maybe he should have waited. Maybe..._

_“Yes,” she breathes out, looking at him intently, squeezing his fingers back._

_“Yes?”_

_“Yes, Castle. I will marry you,” she says again and a tear rolls over her cheek._

_“Oh, Kate … Kate,” he chants her name like a prayer. “I so wish I could kiss you right now.”_

_“Me too,” she whispers back, another tear rolling down her face. Inside, she knows, it’s the right and the only decision she could make. She is happy._

_They stare each other for a long while, hands caressing. She just agreed to marry him!  Marry. Richard Castle. Marry him. Her partner, her best friend. Her everything. She’s going to be his. They... they need to get out of her. They need to … do something. Just as she opens his mouth, he whispers._

_“We need to get out of here.”_

_Before he can say anything else, the door bursts open. She jerks back her hand and retreats to the wall. Three big men come in the room, smirks on their faces._

_“Hallo, sleeping beauties,” the shortest man starts with heavy Russian accent. “I was wondering when you wake up. It is time to have a little chat with you.” He crouches in front of Castle. “I know you know where the money is.”_

_“I- I don’t,” Castle croaks out._

_“Do not lie to me!” the man yells at him. “I don’t like when people lie to me. Let me ask you again: where is the money?”_

_Castle really doesn’t know about it. The case was closed a day ago. There was no talk of the money, not even a money-trail. He has no idea what the Russian is talking about._

_“I don’t know!” he yells out. “I really don’t!”_

_“I saw you at Yuri’s place two days ago! You must have idea where the money that son of a bitch stole from me is!” the short Russian growls out, clutching Castle’s shirt with his hand._

_“I really don’t know,” Castle tries to protect him again. “We were there only because of the murder case!”_

_“Do not lie!”_

_“I am not lying!” he pleads._

_The Russian growls out an order in Russian to the big guys standing in the doorway. They step closer to Kate. Taking a firm grip on her hands, they uncuff her from the pipe and heave her up from the floor. The man pulls her into his hold, covering her mouth with one swift move._

_“What are you doing?” Castle asks, panic starts to rise in his system._

_The bigger Russian takes out a huge knife and raises it to her neck. The small Slavic man only smirks. “Maybe you need a little help with remembering.”_

_“NO!” Castle yells to him. “I told you guys, I don’t know anything about the money.”_

_The small man nods to the one holding Kate and he cuts a shallow but long cut on her collarbone, the blood starting to dribble down her shirt. The big hand of the Russian guy is muffling her long scream of pain._

_“NO!” Castle yells again. “Leave her alone, we don’t know anything! Please you have to believe me!” he pleads, tears starting to surface. He cannot watch her like this. He absolutely can’t. She is in pain. He yanks his cuffs hard, with the hope that he could reach the crazy Russian guy, but they don’t budge._

_“Where is my fucking money?” Russian yells at him again._

_All of a sudden the door of the room flies open with a bang._

_“FREEZE, NYPD!”  Esposito’s voice rings across the room._

_The police come in so fast, the Russians don’t even have the chance pull out their guns. Kate, feeling the shift in the air, manages to unarm the bigger Russian, throwing the knife to the other end of the room. She kicks him backwards and soon he is lying in the floor. She bends his arms sharply behind his back and straddles his legs, immobilizing.  The other men, seeing that they have no escape from the room, rise up their hands in defeat._

_“On the ground now! Move it, on the ground!” Esposito orders._

_Castle just watches the commotion from his place against the wall. He is still cuffed, so he can’t move. He can’t even reach out to Kate, who is dealing with the man who cut her. He can see from afar that the bloodstain dripping on to her chest is getting bigger and bigger. She is losing blood. Rapidly. He needs to get her to the hospital. Now!_

_“Espo!” he yells out to his friend. The Latino approaches Castle and crouches down beside him. “Please, uncuff me, I need to get to Kate.”_

_Espo gets the key out and lets him loose. Castle doesn’t even wait till Espo removes the cuffs, he is already yanking himself free and moving away from the wall with lightning speed. In a moment, he is right beside Kate, catching her before she falls to the ground. The loss of the blood is too much, even though it is a superficial wound._

_“Kate,” he croaks out. “Hey, I got you. I got you. Shhhh...”_

_She can’t do anything but nod in agreement. The wound on her collarbone is burning. Everything hurts, everything it’s a big blur._

_“We’re okay I’m okay,” she whispers. “I love you.”_

_“I love you too,” he whispers as he places a kiss on her cheek. “Just stay awake till the ambulance comes.”_

_“Okay,” she whispers as she fades off into the darkness._

* * *

“Shhhhh, Castle,” she gently rocks him against her body. “We are here, we are okay.”

“I know, Kate,” he whispers back to her.

“They’re only wounds, Castle,” she kisses his mouth for a short moment, shifting underneath him. “The only thing they managed to do was to leave marks on my body. They didn’t leave scars on my soul, Castle. You healed me. I am here. And you are here too. Tonight, it isn’t about the pain.”

He nods against her and draws in a long breath.

“Today,” she continues. “It’s about joy, laughter and love,” she ends her words with another kiss. She draws him closer, clutching his shoulders. He sighs and yields to her powers of persuasion. She is very good at this.

  
“Yes,” he whispers. “Love... let’s go with love.” He kisses her back with the same amount of passion. She opens her to him, letting him evade her mouth with a rough need. He pulls away for a moment to whisper against her lips, “God, I love you so much.”

**  
**


	4. Chapter 4

 

_It was cold when she opened her eyes. The coldness was seeping through her bones like a heavy blanket over her. She shuddered and suddenly a flash of pain coursed through her body. She let out a moan. Her chest. It was heavy and aching. Something was wrong. She tired to breathe but moving her chest really hurt. Oh. What? What was happening?_

_She filled her lungs slowly and exhaled out a long breath before she tried to open her eyes. When she finally managed to open them a little, she discovered she was in a dark hospital room. A pale dark space that was full of shadows and soft light from the lamp on the table next to her made the room look smaller than it was. It was silent around her. She didn’t hear beeping this time. Oh good. It meant she wasn’t in intensive care and her heartbeat wasn’t monitored. Thank god for small miracles, she thought._

_She opened her eyes fully just to see where she was. It was dark outside. So, it was night. How did she get here? She furrowed her eyebrows, deep in thought. Just as she wanted to shift her body in her hospital bed to turn herself towards the dark window, the door opened._

_Castle’s smiling face was the first thing she saw when he came in. His smile bloomed even bigger when he realized she was awake._

_“Kate! You’re awake!” he cheered and quickly made his way next to her._

_She managed to respond with a weak smile._

_“Castle? I... uhh... What happened?” she tentatively asked._

_“You don’t remember?” The smile from his face disappeared. Worry started to creep there instead._

_He stiffened. It started to feel like a bad joke to him, her shooting happening all over again. How much does she even remember? Oh please god, make her remember. He can’t do this again._

_“We were taken?” she asked, her voice low, near to whisper._

_He let out a sigh. She remembered. Thank god. He let out a long sigh and the worry started to fade away from his chest._

_“Yes, the Russian mob,” he nodded, relief engulfing him. “They were after Yuri’s money and they thought we knew where it was...”_

_“...and they cut me...” she finished the sentence._

_“Yes,” he nodded again, the blood started to flow back to his cheeks. “It’s a big cut. Sixteen stitches. Shallow, but... you lost lot of blood.”_

_“That would explain why I feel like run over by a truck,” she smiled weakly. Then a little crease appeared between her eyebrows as she was trying to make sense of the facts in her head. “How long have I been here?”_

_“An hour,” he answered back softly. And the silence filled the place between them as they stared each other in silent awe. Finally, he broke the silence. “You know, don’t make promises you don’t intend to keep,” he said with a little tone of a tease in his voice._

_Her face fell slightly, her adorable face got entirely confused. “Promises?”_

_“Yeah,” he smiled back at her. “You promised to be awake till the ambulance arrived. And then you passed out.”_

_The laughter crept into her body and she let out a soft chuckle. She had been thinking of something more serious. Something with more impact. Oh, Castle. At least she was alive and breathing and smiling right now._

_“Sorry,” she mumbled to him, their hands touching, pulling him closer to her._

_“No, it’s alright,” he bent down to her, his lips touching her forehead. He placed a soft kiss there and looked into her eyes again._

_“Because of your little stunt, I got to play the hero, you know.”_

_She chuckled again, “A hero?”_

_“Oh, Kate,” he dragged a finger softly against her cheek, tentatively touching the soft pale skin of her face. His eyes digging to hers, he asked, “Who do you think carried you out of the building?”_

_Smiling wider, she raised one of her arms to touch his face. Even though she flinched and the grimace of pain ran through her features, she continued stretch her hand for him. Placing a hand on his cheek she whispered, “My hero.”_

_He raised his own hand to cover hers when Kate’s filled with confused again. He glanced at their joined hands and realized what was making her furrowing her eyebrows again - she saw it. She saw the ring he had slipped on her finger just before the ambulance arrived at the scene. She was his. Soon._

_“The ring...” she breathed out. “How?”_

_He grinned. It was a surprise he had planned a long, long time ago. Although, he’d hoped that when he’d finally ask her to marry him, it would be something in grander scale. Not like it happened in reality - while being kidnapped. But what you can do when fate plays out differently?_

_He had been holding onto that ring for a year now. It was totally perfect for her. His father realized it as well when he gave it to him. “It’s time,” he had said. It was an old ring, made of white gold, holding a single diamond, surrounded by little ones. The two sides of that gorgeous metal snaked up and down, creating a beautiful infinity pattern. The little stones were dusted everywhere, making the ring look like an ancient relic. It shone on her finger and it took her breath away. So beautiful._

_“I have had this ring for over a year,” he explained, lowering her hand so that he could caress her small fingers with his._

_“It has been waiting for you. The right moment.” He bent his head a little and gave a quick kiss to the ring. “It’s a family heirloom. My father’s.”_

_She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t even think. This was so sudden. First the cut, the pain, the sorrow. And now this? Even though she had agreed to marry him, he hadn’t had a chance to give her a ring. In all honesty, he didn’t expect his sudden burst of love at all. But now here he was, looking down at her, at her finger holding the ring that bind them together. The ring shining so brightly. So beautiful, so perfect._

_“It’s so beautiful,” she whispered in awe._

_“Just like you,” he grinned at her. “Strong, infinitely beautiful. It joins us as one, the two sides of this ring,” he surrounded the ring with his fingers, tracing the soft edge of the surface. “It takes you and me and makes it us - it’s so unique, enthralling, exciting and extraordinary. I love you. Always.”_

_She smiled sleepily back at him, while he was bending closer to her, “I love you too, you have no idea how much.”_

_“Oh, I think I do. Believe me, I do,” he whispered as he gave a kiss to her lips, his face resting against hers._

 

* * *

 

He breaks the feverish kiss with an audible pop and lifts his head away from her. He opens her eyes to see her gasping softly beneath him. He smiles and caresses her cheek with his fingers, moving them in soft circles above her cheekbone. She closes her eyes again, taking in the feel of his moving digits against her skin.

He moves his hands away from the cheek, sliding his fingers over the soft surface of her neck. His mouth descends down again placing a soft, open mouthed kiss on her cheek. She sighs contently underneath him. His mouth never stopping he follows the path of his fingers, his tongue tracing the soft edges of her neck.

She moans out loud when his adventurous finger grazes over her nipple. He smiles against her skin, but continues this slow exploration of her shoulder. Her hands slither against his biceps, trying to find some surface to hold onto.

She is still wearing a bra. A beautiful lacy bra, covered with tiny little pearls. Under normal circumstances, he would appreciate the garment, but right now, he decides, it’s simply a distraction. It’s oh-so-very beautiful, but it’s stopping him from doing what he wants the most - make her crazy.

He leaves her puckered peak alone and his fingers slither up again. Each of his hands are sliding under the straps of her bra and dragging them down from her shoulders so very slowly. She raises her back for a short moment, making it easier for him to unhook it and dispose of the annoying piece of clothing. She holds her hands up and, he shimmies her out of the bra.

“Oh, yes,” he sighs as finally frees her from it and he throws the bra to the other end of the room. He doesn’t even notice where it lands as he is too busy sharing open mouthed kisses to each of her breasts.

She doesn’t hold back her moans when he gently bites her nipple. The pressure is just right for her. Another moan escapes from her throat when he does the same to her other nipple. He loves that she is so responsive, so willing. He loves to make her moan like that. He knows the secrets of her body. What makes her crazy. What makes her shudder, arch and moan above him, under him.

Getting more and bolder, he slides his fingers downwards along her sides, his mouth still feasting upon her breasts. He softly moves the hand under the edges of her dress that is still pooled around her hips. She arches them off the bed and without further ado, he slides the dress off her body, leaving her heaving chest alone for a moment.

Tossing the dress to the floor, he resumes his movements on her breasts, gently licking the soft skin between the peaks, where the round scar hides. He kisses it with care, making her shudder under him.

His fingers are drawing soft circles at her abdomen, drawing out a long moan from her. He teases her with joy, drawing his hands closer to her centre and then retreating. It’s a game for him, seeing how far he can go with the teasing. How long will it take before she gets impatient?

His mouth finds one of her nipples again, his tongue circling around the red flesh. She makes a sound between a moan and a whine and her fingers in his hair grip the dark hairs more forcefully. She is thoroughly enjoying what he is doing to her, but she is getting impatient.

His hand, once again, gets closer to her centre and then pulls back again.

She doesn’t take it well. He feels one of her palms surrounding his ear, the hard edges of her nails digging into the soft flesh.

“Castle,” she sighs out, her voice hoarse, filled with need. “Stop the damn teasing!”

He chuckles, and the sudden hot breath against her nipple makes her shudder again. His fingers find the lacy fabric of her panties and they slide underneath it.

She releases his ear and rests her hands on his shoulders, tightening her hold as the feelings get too much.

His middle finger finds the welcoming flesh of her core and he slides his hand over already moistened skin. She lets loose another cry as she feels his fingers there, her hips rising up to greet his palm without her conscious permission.

He stills his hand again, continuing his cruel work of teasing. His lips working at her stomach, making her abs dance underneath his touch.

“Castle, I swear to god...” she starts again, her breathless protest finds its end as he moves his hand again. He dips one of his fingers inside her and curls it, making her shudder. 

“Oh...”


	5. Chapter 5

The fingers move inside her in a teasingly slow pace. She opens her mouth again to snap at him, but there he goes and curls his finger again. Her witty remark dies on her lips when he adds a thumb in the game. A long groan tumbles from her lips as the heat in her lower abdomen increases to new heights.

She can’t stop moving against his hand, her hips undulating in sync with his finger inside her. It’s just too good. When he kisses her navel, she feels like she could burst into flames, her abs dancing under the soft touch of his lips.

He chuckles. The puff of air against her overheated skin sets off another long moan and she tightens her hold of his hair. She softly pushes his head downwards - where she wants him the most. But damn it to hell, he doesn’t move as fast as she would like him to.

He pulls his finger out of her as the white, lacy fabric is restraining his movements against her. He needs more space. He drags his hand out of her panties, making her whine with disapproval. He places his thumbs underneath the lacy fabric of her pants and drags them down slowly, sharing kisses to her thighs. From her hip to her knee with the left leg, he switches the side and kisses her up to her right leg, down to her hipbone. Her hips rise up to greet his needy touch and he places his hand down on her core. She whimpers when he pushes his finger inside again, adding another one.

He resumes his pace quickly, working his fingers in her mercilessly. When his thumb circles her centre again, her moan comes out more annoyed than aroused. That teasing man, he just likes to live on the edge, doesn’t he?

Just as she is thinking of opening her mouth again to whine about the slow pace, his lips descend onto her core and she sucks in a startled breath. His lips move with care and he introduces his tongue to the equation. She lets out another string of moans. She can’t do anything else but clutch the heavy white sheets of the bed with one hand and his satin hair with other.

* * *

 

He enjoys the taste of her on his tongue. Her core has always been a wanted treat for him, always making his heart beat fast with arousal and need. His pants are tight around his hips as he feels his hardness trying to burst out.

_Patience.._.. He reminds himself. Good things come to those who wait.

So, he ignores the tight pressure in his groin and continues to make her writhe. He applies a little more pressure to her tight bundle of nerves and moves his fingers in rhythm with his tongue. Another long moan slithers out her mouth and he smiles, exposing his teeth to her core. She shudders at that particular motion and presses her hips up to his hungry mouth.

She is moving almost nonstop under him, her hands restless, trying to grab hold of something, anything. He places a hand on her abdomen, trying to hold her down as he sucks at her most sensitive flesh in abandon.

He finds the perfect rhythm for her. _Suck, lick, lick..._   It seems to work on her as the moans coming from her mouth are almost nonstop.

“Cas... ahh,” she sucks in a breath. “Castle, you gotta stop...”

He stills when he hears her silent plea and looks up at her, her chest heaving hard as she is trying to catch her breath.

“Why?” he mumbles against her.

“Ahh,” she moans as he tries to continue his movements against her core.

“I need you. In me. Please?” she begs. She actually begs. _Begs_.

Slowly, he lets go of her, sliding out his fingers. She is still responsive to his every move and as he moves his fingers over her center for the last time, she groans out few loud curse words.

That makes him chuckle. It’s Beckett at her best. He couldn’t believe she was so loud and talkative in bed when they first started with the new stage of their relationship. Don’t get him wrong. He really, _really_ likes women who know how to _use_ words. Especially when she does all swearing and cursing in bed, sometimes using _very_ creative words that turn him on like a light switch. Oh god how he loves this woman.

* * *

 

She really doesn’t let him get far away as she rises from the sheets and meets him in the centre of bed. Chest against chest, flesh against flesh. Quickly, her hands rise up work on the buttons of his tuxedo pants and, before he even realizes what’s going on, is soon enough pushing them down to his hips. She looks up for a moment and captures his mouth with hers. Their lips meet in hurried abandon as he helps her to get rid of his clothes.

Then, she glances down as she sees something yellow, red and blue emerging from underneath his pants and she can’t hold back a chuckle.

“Superman, really?” she comments on his choice of underwear.

“What, you don’t like strong men?” he mumbles against her lips when her long fingers sneak under the silky fabric and get a hold of his already hardened member.

“I didn’t say I didn’t like it,” she moans out before he covers her mouth with his lips again. He moans out her name when her fingers circle the tip of him and he can’t hold back a thrust to her palm.

Leaving her mouth alone for a short moment, he shimmies out of his briefs. She is teasing him at the same time, her hand moving around him with a precise, hurried pace.

His breath comes ragged now as the feelings inside his body are overwhelming him. Her fingers are moving up and down around his shaft, making him groan.

He grabs a hold of her wrists, removing her nimble fingers from around him. She makes a sound of protest against his neck. But he doesn’t give up. No. Instead of letting her do what she wants, he places her hands around his shoulders and grabbing a hold of her back, he lays her down on the bed, his body covering hers.

She parts her legs around him and urges him to move against her. He is on the edge and she wants more - more of him, more of everything. But instead of making her happy really fast, he smirks at her. He enjoys making Beckett crazy, oh so very much.

He catches her lips with his lips and he explores her mouth with care and purpose. Her arms are on his back, gripping the soft muscles around his spine weakly as he is slowly turning her into a gasping, shuddering mass of ecstasy.

He dips his head down to suck at her neck. At the same time her legs lock around him and she pulls him upwards along her body, to make him move against her. She sighs in frustration when he doesn’t. He ignores her annoyed sight and continues caressing her breasts and abdomen with his fingers, in painfully slow pace.

“Fuck!” she curses, when he teasingly tips his fingers down there again, giving her a taste of what she is getting soon. She growls at him when he drags his fingers over her stomach to her breasts again.

Finally, he decides the time of games is over and cups her buttocks, placing his tip at her entrance. She is shuddering in need, she really can’t wait anymore. Her hips are undulating unconsciously against him.

He slides home.

He moans against her neck as she lets loose a long moan of her own. He’s finally there. Finally in her. The place she wants him to be. Both of them have been waiting for this moment all day. They are finally there.

He takes a long pause, savoring the feeling of her surrounding him. It still feels good, beyond amazing. Extraordinary. After all those years of them being together, it still feels like brand new experience.

Tentatively he starts moving inside her, penetrating her femininity with deep and slow strokes. Her ankles resting on his hips are digging into him, urging him to go faster, increase the pace.

When he doesn’t, she growls to his ear, punctuating it with pushing nails into his back.

“Castle...”

He smiles against her neck and he rises up to meet her lips. Her hands pull him more tightly into her embrace and he finally gives up the teasing, giving her what she needs. Their lips clash in a hurried kiss as he increases the pace of his thrusts. Holding onto him, she moans into his mouth with pleasure.

He stills in her for a second, adjusting his position above her while supporting his weight on his strong muscular arms.

But she is too far gone. She doesn’t care that he stopped. She is so close to her edge, she just keeps going. Her hands slither around his hips and settle there. She pushes herself up to him again and again and again. The pressure builds up in her as she thrusts her hips up to him in selfless abandon and moaning out aloud. He watches from above her how she rides herself over the edge, her inner muscles working around him in tight grip. He grits his teeth and he holds onto his sanity.

She is shaking underneath him, her whole body relaxing as she thrusts up one more time.

She opens her eyes to see him looking down at her. She smiles, almost shyly.

He bends down his head, fusing his lips to her again, forcing his tongue inside her mouth. They lay motionless as he plunders her mouth with tight force.

Finally, he breaks the kiss and states, “That was so hot.”

She chuckles for an answer.

“Wanna go again?” he asks as he thrusts himself into her, making her over sensitized core flutter around him.

She moans for an answer and he continues his thrusts.

She feels the rough heat blooming between her legs again, as he moves inside her, around her. She is almost ready to climb again.

He rides her with deep, hurried strokes, not slow and lazy anymore.

He feels that he can’t hold onto his sanity anymore. Not after that. He abandons his original plan to make it slow and sensual, as she had blown the plan out of the water anyway.

Feeling her responding under him just made him harder and he penetrates her deeper, the pace becoming more and more heated. He keeps giving and she keeps taking.

He brings her legs up to his shoulders and changes the angle of penetration, making her cry out in pleasure. This allows more deeper and stronger strokes and she shudders when the first waves of pleasure start coursing through her again.

He is there with her. His moans mingle with hers when the sharp build-up inside him starts to become unbearable. His movements get sloppy as he lays on her fully, covering her body with his. He rocks into her blindly, uncontrollably.

Feeling her teeth on his neck only makes him thrust stronger and he flies over the edge into a blissful cloud of ecstasy. She is there with him, fluttering around him violently as he thrusts sloppily into her and their unified moans of bliss carry around the room.

* * *

 

It takes a while before either of them moves. When he finally rolls off of her, she curls onto his side and clings to him. She pushes a soft kiss to his shoulder before she closes her eyes and smiles contently. They don’t need words to communicate, they only need each other.

 

* * *

 

_“I do,” he said out loud, looking down at her beautiful hazel eyes._

_He didn’t notice what the man standing in front of him was saying. He was too occupied looking at his bride. She looked positively glowing and she was smiling back at him, repeating the words of the wedding vow._

_“I do,” she said it too. Finally. Nothing between them anymore. They are husband and wife. Katherine Castle. Richard Castle. Equals. Extraordinary people._

_Even before the minister could say, “You may now kiss the bride,” he shuffled closer to his wife and hooked an arm around her._

_And there he was... removing the small veil from her face. There was nothing that could stop them anymore. He placed his hand on her cheek and fingers on her neck. Pulling her into his embrace, he captured her mouth with his, joining them in holy matrimony._

_Everything around them disappeared and their world circled around their moving lips. It’s what they had been waiting for the whole day. Or, more like an eternity._

_Finally, he had to pull back. Before the kiss could become more heated. They were, after all, still standing in front of a hundred people - relatives and friends. They didn’t need to see what he imagined he would do with her this evening._

_He drew in a shuddering breath before he let her go._

_Slowly, she opened her eyes to look up at him again. They were shining, tiny tears glistening in the corner of her eyes._

_She choked out a startled chuckle as the crowd began to cheer and turned her attention to them._

_He felt something brush against his knuckles. He looked down and saw her hand there. He opened his palm and she slid her fingers in, holding into his hand strongly._

_They stepped forward, hands joined, as husband and wife._


	6. Chapter 6

The streaming sun through the thin veil of curtains plays on her lashes. She groans softly and she realizes she really doesn’t want to move. But the sun gets more and more annoying by the second.

She opens her eyes and blinks once, twice, before opening them fully. The annoying light won’t go away, so she moves her head a bit. Her hair slides on the soft surface of Castle’s body and she becomes aware of the naked body lying beside her.

She smiles and stills her movement. He is still asleep.

Silently, she observes her husband. He is handsome and he is snoring lightly. That makes her chuckle. She can see the blooming red marks she made during the festivities at night, the red edges of the splotches peeking under the blanket. _Oh god_. It got really out of hand, didn't it? The whole day starts to come back slowly. The wedding, the reception, everything. She smiles as the memories of the previous night flood her mind.

From the moment the day started, it was amazing. From start to end.

* * *

 

_She had been woken up by Alexis softly tugging her by her toes. The girl had decided that her dad shouldn’t see his bride before the wedding. So she stole Kate away from him. Together, they had gone to pick up Lanie to visit the hair and makeup guy. When they finally got free from the salon, it was time to get dressed and head down to Coney Island._

_Rick was already there. She knew that. Of course he was there. And from the pouty messages Rick had sent her (throughout the entire morning) that made her laugh during her beauty sessions and on her way to the wedding venue, she knew that he wasn't happy that they left him alone. Well, almost alone._

_When she finally stepped out of the car in front of the house on Coney Island that afternoon, she was getting nervous all over again. It was her first wedding. And hopefully the last one too. The ONLY one. She loved Rick so, so much. But all of this wedding craziness made her slightly uneasy. She swallowed and started to walk towards the entrance._

_Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked up to find her dad there._

_Jim smiled and pulled her into a hug._

_“Ready?“ he asked._

_“Yeah,“ she answered, smiling back at him._

_“Let’s go then,“ Jim took her hand and started to lead her to the back of the house. “Before your fiancé has a heart attack.“_

_“Was he that bad?“ she laughed._

_“Well, no. But he wasn’t amused when he didn’t find you in the morning.“_

_“Ah,“ she nodded. “I am sure Alexis explained it to him.“_

_“Yes, she did,“ Jim nodded with amused smirk. He added after a pause, “He is a good man, Kate.“_

_“I know, Dad,“ she agreed as they walked towards the backyard._

_“I am happy for you,” he finally said, before they reached their destination._

_She was speechless, her father’s precious words meant very much to her. She felt her throat clogging up and suddenly she was unable to say anything in reply. Jim used that moment of silence to signal to the musicians to start playing._

_Everything was set._

_“Here we go,” he whispered to his daughter._

_“Here we go,” she smiled back at her father as they started their walk up the aisle._

* * *

He doesn’t wake up as she slowly untangles herself from his hold. He is a heavy sleeper, which enables her to move away from his needy hug swiftly. She winces as she moves herself on the bed, sliding his hands away from her body. She is sore. Oh my. Why she is sore?

Then she remembers the night. While the first time was amazing, the second time was just mind blowing. And the third time…

She throws a quick glance towards the balcony. Well… the third time was just … defying gravity.

Blushing because of the memories, she sits up and her feet touch the carpeted floor of the hotel room. It’s warm and so cozy. For a moment, she thinks of staying in the bed, not moving, just enjoying herself on her first day of marriage, sleeping in together with her husband. _Husband._ Unconsciously, she turns herself around again to catch another glimpse of the man laying beside her. All hers. All of him.

But she wants to go to the sunlight, to soak in the warmth and brightness of the Mediterranean sun. She sighs and stands up, tiptoeing around the humongous bed. Finally she manages to get a hold of his shirt lying on the ground. She pulls it over herself and buttons a few buttons in front.

Silently and carefully, she makes her way out of the room, heading towards the door of the balcony. It’s open. Just like they had left it during the night. The gentle wind is playing with the white curtains, making the whole scene play out like a dream.

Sliding the curtains away from the door, she steps into the sunlight.

As far as her eye can see, it’s water. Everywhere. The Mediterranean Sea, shining so brightly under the sun, so turquoise, clear and alluring. She takes in a lungful of salty air. It smells different than home, but it’s good. Special. Smells like an adventure. The moist air makes her hair curl up and she can feel it. Her soft strands of hair are curlier than usual. Guess the Mediterranean is good for her.

She walks up to the heavy marble ledge of the balcony and peeks down at the rocks that lie below. The waves crashing against the huge rocks are making the rumbling sound she had heard the whole night.

She leans against the cold surface of marble and sighs. Contently. She is where she wants to be. With her husband. On their honeymoon. As far away from a normal life as they can possibly be. It feels like a dream. All those years they spent together. Even before they had a relationship, it felt normal. But now. It feels good. It feels good to be married. To the one and only man she loves. There is no doubt that she loves him. And she has never doubted his feelings as well. After all these years they still fit. They still complete each other, still feels like they are on a first date. It’s precious and something to hold onto forever.

She hears shuffling behind her, somebody walking around the room. Without even bothering to look behind her, she knows it’s Castle.

“Here you are,” a sleepy voice comes from the doorway.

She nods, but doesn’t turn herself around, entranced by the dance of the waves down at the sea.

He steps onto the balcony, walking straight to her. He entwines his hands around her abdomen and pulls her close to him. She leans back against his broad chest as he presses a small kiss down on her shoulder.

“You stole my shirt,” he states.

“Mmmh,” she makes a sound of agreement. “What’s yours is mine now.”

“Ah... is that why you married me? To get a hold of my clothes?” he teases, his sleepy voice full of amusement.

“Yes,” she nods. “Because, as you know, I don’t have clothes of my own.”

He only chuckles as an answer, settling in behind her, pulling her even closer to him.

After few moments of silence between them, he finally asks, “Couldn’t sleep?

“Yeah,” she nods. “I wanted to see the sun.”

“It’s beautiful here, isn’t it?” he states, looking at the horizon. The blue sea is a contrast behind the rocky hill on the far side of the bay. The summery side of Mediterranean Sea is always beautiful, the air smells like new adventures and love.

“Is that why you brought me here?” she muses.

“Partially,” he mumbles against her ear.

“Partially?” she raises her eyebrows at him.

He chuckles at her reaction. “Well, I wanted to be somewhere warm.”

“Mmh?”

“And to show you the world.”

She sighs again as his lips caress the line of her throat.

“The world?” she whispers, closing her eyes and surrendering the onslaught of the sensations his hands on her stomach and his lips on her neck are creating.

“Yes, the world,” he whispers again against her throat.

“You know, love is the journey of the heart. This is a new journey now. It’s our journey, we are taking this together, one step at the time. Why not start it with a big adventure?” he explains.

She is smiling widely. His words. His words are always make her heart expand into new dimensions. His words make her love him more.

“You sound like a poet,” she whispers finally.

“Sorry, only a novelist,” he finally says, pulling back her hair to access to more of her flesh. “Are you sure you made a right decision to become my woman?”

That makes her chuckle. “I like novelists more. In fact. I’m in love with one.”

She feels him step away from her for a second and the chilly wind between them makes her shudder. She almost frowns at the separation, but then his hands on her stomach turn her around to face him.

“Is that so?” he asks, closing the distance between them with one swift motion. Their lips meeting in a welcoming kiss.

“Do I know him?” he whispers when he pulls back from her for a short moment.

“Mmmh,” she mumbles against his lips. “You should.”

“Ah?” he enquires and kisses her again, soundly, deeply. She feels her body melting against his, her mind rendered useless with the movement of his tongue.

“Who is it?” he breathes against her cheek, sharing kisses there.

“Patterson,” she whispers, making him chuckle against her.

“I hate you,” he states, his teeth caressing the column of her throat.

“I hate you too,” she answers and succumbs to the feeling him against her in the soft warm wind of the coast of Monaco. 


End file.
